1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a door assembly with a barrier door and an environmental door that can be hingedly rotated relative to an opening either independently of one another or in unison.
2. Description of the Related Art
Exterior doorways to most residential buildings and some commercial buildings are provided with a pair of hinged doors. The first door is referred to herein as a barrier door and has sufficient structural integrity to control access to the building. Thus, the barrier door typically will have a lock that can be opened manually from the inside of the building, but requires a key for unlocking from the outside of the building. The barrier door typically opens inwardly to the building. The second door on the typical exterior doorway is referred to herein as an environmental door and may be a storm door, a screen door or a combination storm/screen door where a glass or plastic panel can be interchanged with a screen in response to seasonal changes in the environment. The environmental door typically is less sturdy than the barrier door, but often includes a latch to prevent unintended opening of the environmental door in response to wind forces. Many environmental doors also include a lock that permits locking from the inside. The typical environmental door is hinged on the same side of the doorway as the barrier door. However, the typical environmental door is hinged to rotate outwardly relative to the building.
The standard use of an inwardly hinged barrier door and an outwardly hinged environmental door leads to inconveniences during normal usage and creates complexities and costs during installation. For example, entrance into a building requires the initial outward opening of the environmental door. The environmental door then must be held in an open state while the barrier door is being opened. The opening of the barrier door may require access to and manipulation of a key while the environmental door is being held open. It is then necessary to pull the environmental door inwardly into a securely closed condition and then to push the barrier door outwardly into a securely closed condition.
Many environmental doors are provided with a closure-assist feature, such as a spring or a piston-cylinder assembly. These closure-assist features may avoid the need to securely pull the environmental door closed before pushing the barrier door closed. However, the closure assist features push the environmental door into the person who is trying to manipulate the handle and/or key for opening the barrier door.
The difficulties of opening doors in opposite directions, holding the environmental door open while accessing the barrier door and contending with an environmental door that is biased toward the closed position before the barrier door is opened all become much more complicated when parcels are being carried into the building. Thus, a person may have to simultaneously deal with holding parcels, maintaining the environmental door in a partly opened condition and unlocking the barrier door. Most closure assist features on environmental doors limit the extent of the hinged opening of the environmental door. Hence, the closure assist features may have to be disengaged to permit a full opening of the environmental door so that a large parcel can be carried through the doorway.
Most barrier doors are provided with two or three hinges arranged along a common rotational axis slightly inwardly from the interior side of the door frame. Most environmental doors also are provided with two or three hinges arranged along a rotational axis slightly outwardly from the exterior side of the door frame. The rotational axis for the environmental door should be substantially parallel to the rotational axis for the barrier door. Additionally, the door frame requires a precisely configured and installed framework to ensure proper seating of both the barrier door and the environmental door in their closed condition. The framework then must be routed out for receiving each of the respective hinges. The location, depth and alignment of the hinge recesses on the door frame are critical and require considerate time and skill to complete. The installer typically is required to perform at least four and often five or six precise routing operations on the doorway frame to install the door. Similar routing operations may be required along the edge of at least the barrier door to accommodate the other half of each hinge. The total cost of the door assembly includes the cost of at least four hinges and often five or six hinges. Furthermore, the total cost of the door assembly reflects the labor costs for installing the 4-6 hinges.
Door assemblies for institutional applications, such as prison doors, have been made with two doors hinged along the same side of a door. The doors open and hingedly rotate in the same direction, and can be opened separately or together. Examples of such doors are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,099; U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,907; U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,817; U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,906; U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,550 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,509. These prior doors that are hinged on the same side of a doorway and that open in the same direction all have certain structural and functional inefficiencies that make these prior doors undesirable for many residential or commercial applications.
In view of the above, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a door assembly that meets security and environmental needs without the above-described inefficiencies of conventional door assemblies used on residential or commercial buildings.
Another object of the invention is to provide a door assembly that is easier and less costly to install.